Conventional routing systems generally perform packet multicasting in a single routing context using a single multicast address space. With this approach, supporting various multicast features for different customers may require the use of a separate router for each customer. This approach may also prevent users from taking advantage of packet multicasting resources available from multiple routing contexts with private and potentially overlapping address spaces.
Thus there is a need for an improved virtual routing system and method for packet multicasting. There is also a need for an improved packet multicasting system and method. There is also a need for a virtual routing system and method that takes advantage of multiple routing contexts allowing a service provider to support multicast features for many different access clients with a single piece of hardware.